''Carlina vulgaris'', the carline thistle, is a plant species of the genus ''

Carlina ''Carlina'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It is distributed from Madeira and the Canary Islands across Europe and northern Africa to Siberia and northwestern China.Kovanda, M. (2002)Observations on ''Carlina bieberstein ...

''. It is a biennial that grows on limestone, chalky or other alkaline grasslands or dunes. The flowers are clusters of very small brown florets surrounded by brown-golden

bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or o ...

. Both feel dry and spiky, so at first glance the plants appear to be dying when in full flower. The green leaves are spiny and may have hairs. Plants are often short but can reach 60 cm. It originates from Europe, north Africa and Asia but is also found in other parts of the world such as north America. It is considered an invasive plants.

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* * vulgaris Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cynareae-stub